CVE-2006-3435
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedPowerPoint in Microsoft Office 2000, XP, 2003, 2004 for Mac, and v.X for Mac does not properly parse the slide notes field in a document, which allows remote user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted data in this field, which triggers an erroneous object pointer calculation that uses data from within the document. NOTE: this issue is different than other PowerPoint vulnerabilities including CVE-2006-4694.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThis is a memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint where improper parsing of the slide notes field leads to an erroneous object pointer calculation using data directly from the document. Attackers can achieve arbitrary code execution by embedding malicious data in the slide notes of a crafted PowerPoint file.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2000= 2003= 2004= v.x= xpCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify PowerPoint installationCheck if Microsoft PowerPoint is installed by looking for the executable (PPT.EXE) in typical Office installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\ or C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\, or use the Add/Remove Programs control panel.Affected if PowerPoint is installed and the version matches the affected Office versions (2000, 2003, 2004, XP).
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Determine installed Office/PowerPoint versionIn PowerPoint, go to Help > About Microsoft PowerPoint to display the exact version number, or check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Version\PowerPoint\InstallRoot for the installation path.Affected if The displayed version corresponds to Office 2000, 2003, 2004, or Office XP.
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Identify if file originated from untrusted sourceReview recent PowerPoint files opened. Check the source of each file - whether it came from an untrusted email attachment, download, or external media.Affected if Any PowerPoint file from an untrusted or unknown source has been opened, especially if the file contains slide notes.
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Check for anomalous behavior after opening filesReview system logs and any available PowerPoint crash logs or error reports for memory corruption indicators that occurred after opening PowerPoint files.Affected if Memory corruption errors, crashes, or unexpected behavior occurred after opening a PowerPoint file containing slide notes.
A user is affected if they have PowerPoint installed with version 2000, 2003, 2004, or XP AND have opened a crafted PowerPoint file from an untrusted source that contains malicious data in the slide notes field.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedApply the relevant Microsoft security update for this CVE (MS06-048). Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening PowerPoint files from untrusted sources.
Microsoft Office 2007 or later (upgrade from affected legacy versions: Office 2000, XP, 2003, 2004 for Mac, v.X for Mac)
- 1. Check the current Microsoft Office version by opening any Office application, clicking 'Help', and selecting 'About Microsoft Office [Application]'.
- 2. Identify the specific Office product and version installed (2000, XP, 2003, 2004 for Mac, or v.X for Mac).
- 3. Locate and apply the relevant Microsoft security update. For this vulnerability (CVE-2006-3435), Microsoft released Security Bulletin MS06-048 in August 2006, which addresses this and related PowerPoint vulnerabilities.
- 4. For Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003: Apply the security update through Microsoft Update or by downloading the specific patch from the Microsoft Download Center (KB923098).
- 5. For Office 2004 for Mac and Office v.X for Mac: Apply the corresponding Mac security updates released by Microsoft in August 2006.
- 6. After applying the update, restart the Office application and verify the patch was successfully installed.
- 7. Alternatively, upgrade to a newer, supported Microsoft Office version (Office 2007 or later) which is not affected by this legacy vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation40.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-3435 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-3435 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data